Monitor Spanning question

bigmclargehugebigmclargehuge
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I am close to getting a 2nd hand G4 1.25 desktop and I want to span the desktop over a couple of monitors already in my possession.



Does this split the VRAM on the Radeon 9000 card between the two monitors? If so, do I need to disconnect one monitor if I am doing something graphic intensive, or can I simply depower one monitor?



I read through the thread topics and didn't see a comparable topic. If this is a dupe please point me to the existing topic.



Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    yes, VRAM gets split in spanning situations (mirroring too, but it's less important)



    a 2nd monitor is usually auto-detected at startup or when plugged in, though you may have to do "detect displays" depending on which connector (DVI/ADC/VGA)



    removing the 2nd monitor from the equation should return VRAM use to single monitor state, but certain apps might interrupt or override this auto-detection and require restart (of the application usually, not the total Mac)



    um... and we are talking about OS X right?

    do we know which apps?

    < Keynote v1.0 had some issues with need for restart to detect 2nd monitor added after program run >
  • Reply 2 of 2
    bigmclargehugebigmclargehuge Posts: 175member
    Yep, OS X, no need for keynote though.



    Applications in question are



    Dual monitor use:



    Flash

    Painter 8

    Photoshop



    Single monitor use (all work and no play makes Big a dull boy):



    Freedom Force

    Unreal Tournament 2003



    Quote:

    Originally posted by curiousuburb

    yes, VRAM gets split in spanning situations (mirroring too, but it's less important)



    a 2nd monitor is usually auto-detected at startup or when plugged in, though you may have to do "detect displays" depending on which connector (DVI/ADC/VGA)



    removing the 2nd monitor from the equation should return VRAM use to single monitor state, but certain apps might interrupt or override this auto-detection and require restart (of the application usually, not the total Mac)



    um... and we are talking about OS X right?

    do we know which apps?

    < Keynote v1.0 had some issues with need for restart to detect 2nd monitor added after program run >



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